Children of Men
Alfonso Cuarón, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor
I'm now recommending that everyone go see Children of Men, Alfonso Cuarón's (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Y Tu Mamá Tambien) adaptation of the novel by PD James. Set in 2027, the film portrays a future in which women are infertile and no child has been born for 18 years. The story is set against an Orwellian vision of London: the State, portraying the UK as the only world state not to have fallen apart, outlaws immigrants, rounding them up and placing them in prison camps, and reminding citizens that harbouring fugitives ("'fugees") is a crime. Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a former activist, but now indifferent journalist, becomes entangled in a plot that could determine the world's future when he is abducted by the Fishes, an underground insurgency headed by Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore). The Fishes are harbouring a pregnant refugee, and it becomes Theo's responsibility to get her safely to Tomorrow, a ship housing the Human Project, where research into humanity's infertility is being conducted.
Cuarón's film touches on many pertinent contemporary issues, including the ageing population, civil liberties, immigration concerns, policies on "soft" drugs, and opportunistic politicization by activist groups. These are highlighted with some nice audio-visual touches, including a shot of Picasso's Gernika at the culture archive of the future (The Ark of Art, actually Battersea power station), and a quick clip of the Allegro from Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony. While setting his film in the future, he is careful to retain a very contemporary feel; the buses are still red double deckers and, rather depressingly, the trains are still the same ones that have been running since the 1930s. Clive Owen's sporting of an aged "London 2012" sweater is another ironic touch.
The film's main message, however, revolves around the conflicts of the State's will for control to the sacrifice of freedom and the rebellion's will for freedom to the demise of reason, which culminate in the epic climax: a masterfully shot gun battle of insane proportions to rival that of any major war movie. Despite this, the message is finally one of optimism, of the unifying power of children, of humanity's responsibility to safeguard future generations, and of the hope that they bring for a better society. John Tavener's score adds poignancy to this statement, particularly in Fragments of a Prayer, which accompanies the film's most indulgent but effective scene.
I'm now recommending that everyone go see Children of Men, Alfonso Cuarón's (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Y Tu Mamá Tambien) adaptation of the novel by PD James. Set in 2027, the film portrays a future in which women are infertile and no child has been born for 18 years. The story is set against an Orwellian vision of London: the State, portraying the UK as the only world state not to have fallen apart, outlaws immigrants, rounding them up and placing them in prison camps, and reminding citizens that harbouring fugitives ("'fugees") is a crime. Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a former activist, but now indifferent journalist, becomes entangled in a plot that could determine the world's future when he is abducted by the Fishes, an underground insurgency headed by Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore). The Fishes are harbouring a pregnant refugee, and it becomes Theo's responsibility to get her safely to Tomorrow, a ship housing the Human Project, where research into humanity's infertility is being conducted.
Cuarón's film touches on many pertinent contemporary issues, including the ageing population, civil liberties, immigration concerns, policies on "soft" drugs, and opportunistic politicization by activist groups. These are highlighted with some nice audio-visual touches, including a shot of Picasso's Gernika at the culture archive of the future (The Ark of Art, actually Battersea power station), and a quick clip of the Allegro from Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony. While setting his film in the future, he is careful to retain a very contemporary feel; the buses are still red double deckers and, rather depressingly, the trains are still the same ones that have been running since the 1930s. Clive Owen's sporting of an aged "London 2012" sweater is another ironic touch.
The film's main message, however, revolves around the conflicts of the State's will for control to the sacrifice of freedom and the rebellion's will for freedom to the demise of reason, which culminate in the epic climax: a masterfully shot gun battle of insane proportions to rival that of any major war movie. Despite this, the message is finally one of optimism, of the unifying power of children, of humanity's responsibility to safeguard future generations, and of the hope that they bring for a better society. John Tavener's score adds poignancy to this statement, particularly in Fragments of a Prayer, which accompanies the film's most indulgent but effective scene.
posted by CCT at 8:48 pm
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